Case
The thin chassis certainly looks the part, even though it does not use an ultra-light construction. 1,737 grams is significantly heavier than an EliteBook Folio 1040 G2 (1,510 grams). Only the ThinkPad T450s is similarly heavy. This does not affect the level of sophistication or the tactile feel, because Dell constructed a very sturdy notebook. The chassis construction follows the principle of a tub; it opens towards the bottom, where you can find a bottom cover. It sits flush with the rest of the case. There are no maintenance hatches; you can lift the whole cover pretty easily after the removal of some screws. The chassis is extremely torsion-resistant; it will just slightly warp under a lot of pressure (MIL-STD 810 testing).
Connectivity
The port variety of the E7470 is pretty good, especially since the 14-inch model has ports at the back, which is pretty rare for a modern device. Neither an HP Folio 1040 nor a ThinkPad T450s offers this. DisplayPort next to HDMI; only VGA d-Sub is missing, but you still get this old port on the optional docking station. The latter can be attached to the docking port at the bottom of the E7470.
The docking stations from the E series start at 120 Euros (~6), like the Dell Euro Advanced E-Port-Replicator 130W with USB 3.0. Besides numerous video ports (VGA, 2x DisplayPort 1.2, 2x DVI-D) there are even some older ports: Serial, parallel, 2x PS/2. This means you can also attach older measurement and input devices in business environments.
Communication
Mobile and stationary network connections are provided by Ethernet (1 Gbps) and Dual-Band Wireless-AC 8260 as well as Bluetooth 4.1. Intel's Wi-Fi card not only supports Wireless Display, it also uses very good antennas. We noticed this outside the building and actually outside the property. We did not get a signal at this distance to this router (Fritz!Box 7490 AC in the building) with any other device before. The signal was stable at approximately 60 meters, and notebookcheck.com was opened at the usual speed.